It’s been looking like this in our neighborhood for the last month or so. I expect it has in your neighborhood too, unless you are my insensitive friend in Arizona. He hasn’t been able to stop gloating about the 85° temps there. Humph!
This is perfect weather for a pot of something that you can just dip into all day. A real comfort food. Make sure you have a loaf of crusty bread, and you’re good to go.
Naturally I edited this a bit. I didn’t have any bacon so I used about 2 cups of diced ham. And in the end, the soup was thick enough without blending anything, so I didn’t. I like the slight chunkiness. All the chopped stuff was about a 3/8″ dice. I like to make things as easy as possible, so I used my V-slicer to do the potato as if I were making french fries and then diced those. (D— didn’t watch. The slicer makes him cringe.) Then I diced the turnip, carrot, ham, and onion to match as best I could.
Ingredients
1 pound green split peas
1/4 pound bacon, sliced thick
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced (I only had a bag of small turnips, so I just used them all. It probably amounted to twice what the recipe called for.)
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (You might want to add a bit more after you’ve tasted it.)
6 cups water (I used chicken stock. When I’m reheating this I often add water to thin it out a bit.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Pour hot water over split peas and soak for 1 hour.
2. In a 6-quart saucepan, cook the bacon and onion over medium heat, or until the onion is transparent. Add the carrots, turnip, and potato.
3. Drain and rinse the split peas, add to the saucepan along with the mustard, Tabasco, and water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 1 hour.
4. Remove half of the liquid and vegetables, and place in a blender or processor. Puree until smooth. Mix with unblended soup and serve.
From Burt Wolf, Eating Well, published 1992
Do you really need to add the turnips? I hate turnips.
I suppose you could try parsnips. Or you could just leave them out. I made lots of substitutions myself remember. Honestly, I never noticed the taste of them.